Star Wars Valentines Day Chocolate Boxes

Happy 2017 all! Can you believe it's officially 2017? 

We celebrated the new year away from home and up in Maine on a snowboarding and ski trip with some good friends.  It was so nice to get away and detach from the usual routine.  It was also really cool to come down a mountain as a family! My hubster, oldest kiddo, and I all snowboard and the twins ski.  The kids can all get down most blues and greens and I have to say one of my favs from the trip was looking around and seeing my kids coming down on their own with us next to them.  It was really amazing.  One of my new years resolutions is to make sure I take time to enjoy these special moments many that happen everyday.

OK enough of the mushy reflectiveness, onto the treats! 

As you know we are huge SW fans so we went to see Star Wars Rogue One recently.  Can I say I loved this movie without sounding biased?  I mean I think I loved it more than The Force Awakens.  Rogue One is the story in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.  It basically tells the story that depicts the infamous opening movie crawl and provides context on how A New Hope (the first Star Wars movie) came about.  My oldest kiddo, a self proclaimed Star Wars nerd, also loved it as much as I did.

And what do you get a Star Wars nerd for Valentine's Day?

Star Wars chocolates of course!

I seem to have collected a plethora of shaped ice cube trays and that includes many Star Wars themed ones.  Great for jazzing up your drinks with fun cubes but even better as molds for treats.

Since one of my least favorite things to do is dip cake bites/pops into melted chocolate, I use these molds to make no dip cake bites too.  It's pretty simple.  Add melted chocolate or candy melts to coat the mold, let candy harden, add some cake bite mixture, cover with more melted candy and let harden.  

Pop the candy out of the molds spray with some color mist or similar spray food colorant to add some silver accents.  Darth Vader is done with milk chocolate, stormtroopers with vanilla candy melts, and Han Solo in carbonite (no cake mix in center) with dark chocolate.  Add the trooper detail with a black edible food writer.

Use Pearl or Silver spray!

If you have some heart shaped boxes you can add them and make some super special Valentine's for your favorite Star Wars fan!

Aww don't they make a cute couple?

Who can say no to Vader??

Happy 2017 everyone and I hope you are off to a great start to your year!

Star Wars No Dip Cake Bites

by Michelle Clausen January 11 - 2017

Ingredients

• 2 cups of chocolate chips
• 1 cup vanilla chips or melting wafers
• 1 and 1/2 cups of cake mixture (1 and 1/2 cups of crumbled cake and 1-2 Tablespoons of frosting)
• Black food writer
• Silver Color Mist spray

Instructions:

1. Melt each flavor of chips/wafers in microwave safe bowl in 10-20 second intervals until candy is melted.  Add to quart sized freezer bag.  Snip an end and coat mold with candy (ensure thick enough to coat all sides of mold but leave a space to allow for filling).  Tap mold to remove air bubbles and to make sure all parts of mold are coated well.  Reheat candy as needed.  Freeze mold for 5 minutes.
2. Remove mold from freezer and fill cavities with small ball of the cake mixture.  Press to cake fills mold cavity (see photos).  Cover with more melted candy.  Tap to cover evenly.  Freeze for 10-15 minutes.  
3. Pop cake bite out of mold.  
4. Add detail to Stormtroopers with black edible food writer.
5. Spray with color mist.  Let dry 10 minutes.
6. Add to Valentine's day boxes.

Prep time: 1 and 1/2 hours Yield: about 20-25 cake bites 

Holiday PEEPS Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

My edible crafting with marshmallow PEEPS continues! 

The fun people that work with the PEEPS brand were kind enough to send me some of their latest seasonal flavors! Sugar Plum Delight, Cinnamon Roll, Red Velvet, and Sugar Cookie. How fun are they?? 

Although they are already very festive, you can add some easy details and make them really ready for any holiday or Christmas party.

 Make them into wintery polar bears!

Or give them fun little Christmas hats!

Birds get cold too so add some tiny ear muffs!

Or turn them into reindeer - or go directly to the most famous reindeer of all

I usually add PEEPS to cupcakes (which would be A.DOR.A.BLE) but this time went with a Christmas-y chocolate chip cookie cake.

I mean who can resist a huge chocolate chip cookie during the holiday season??

The cookie cake disappeared in no time flat last nite!

Holiday PEEPS Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

by Michelle Clausen December 18 -2016

Ingredients

• PEEPS chicks in assorted flavors (I used red velvet, sugar plum, sugar cookie, and cinnamon roll)
• 1 roll of refrigerated cookie dough ( I used chocolate chip)
• Assorted sprinkles and candies for decorating: orange candy coated sunflower seeds, green m and m's, black and green dot sprinkles, holly and berry sprinkles, red-green-white candy corn, vanilla tootsie rolls, large red ball candy, 
• Purple candy melting wafers (cut in half)
• 1 cup of vanilla candy melting wafers
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (or chocolate candy melting wafers) and green candy melting wafers
• Green and red food writers
• Vanilla buttercream (tint some red and green)
• More holiday sprinkles for cookie cake

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. For Rudolph Reindeer PEEPs: Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and add to a freezer bag.  Snip an end and pipe antlers onto parchment paper.  Let harden 5-10 minutes before moving. Attach to cinnamon roll chick with melted chocolate.  Attach large red candy to with melted chocolate as nose.  Use melted vanilla candy and add detail around neck and add green sprinkle in center.
3.  For Polar Bear: Melt vanilla wafers in a microwave safe bowl and add to a freezer bag.  Snip an end and pipe ears and nose onto sugar cookie flavored chick.  Attach black buttons and nose detail with more melted candy. Soften vanilla tootsie roll for 7 seconds in microwave.  Roll out long strip for scarf.  Cut to size with clean kitchen shears.  Color with red and green food writers.  Wrap around chick as scarf.
4. For Bird with earmuffs: Attach green m and m's to side of chick with melted candy. Add white band with more melted vanilla candy melts.  Attach orange candy coated sunflower seed with more melted candy.  Attach 1/2 of purple candy melt wafer to side as wings.
5. For Red Velvet chick with hat: Melt green candy wafers in a microwave safe bowl and add to a freezer bag.  Snip an end and pipe small discs onto parchment paper.  Add christmas candy corn.  Attach small red ball sprinkle on top of hat with more melted candy. Let harden 5-10 minutes.  Use more melted candy and attach holy around neck of chick.  Add holy berries for detail.  Attach hat to top of chick with more melted candy.
6. For cookie cake: Add cookie dough to a 9X3 springform pan.  Spread cookie dough evenly.  Bake for 30 minutes or until top of cookie is just browned.  Let cool completely.
7. Remove cookie cake from pan and pipe buttercream around the outside top edge.  Add christmas or holiday sprinkles. 
8. Add decorated PEEPS on top.  Slice and serve.

Prep time: 60 mins Yield: 1 - 9 inch cookie cake

Winter Bird on Mini Chairs & Trees Cupcakes

Hey all! I'm trying to get myself into the holiday spirit since we're only about 2 weeks away from Christmas (and Hanukkah too!)

I've used jelly bean birds a bunch of times (scroll down to see more!) so I thought I'd try some little winter birds this time around.

I also love love LOVE mini things so thought they'd be cute on some mini chairs or trees.

The chairs are made from pretzel sticks "glued" together with some chocolate.

The chairs have a nice rustic look and are perfect perches for these little birdies!

I love Jelly Belly jelly beans because they have great colors and some look almost mottled and very much like bird colorings already.  Add some little details - super easy with some melted candy - and you get some cute little winter birds.  Don't forget to add simple eyes with a black food writer!

The trees are made from Hershey's Bells and Kisses stacked on top of each other.  Use whatever flavor you like since it gets covered in green melted candy wafers.  I used peppermint to go along with the winter theme.

Use your favorite cupcake recipe and white frosting as snow.

Put all of it together to make a fun little winter scene.

And don't worry about being perfect with you candy melt "piping"! Small details are needed and it doesn't take a lot of skill.  Once you practice on one or 2 birds it gets easy and the results are super cute!  

Making these cupcakes really did help to get me in the winter holiday spirit!

Thank you for swinging by and have an AMAZING weekend!  Take time to enjoy the moments and don't forget to spread some kindness in the world!

Little Birds on Pretzel Chairs and Tree Cupcake Toppers

by Michelle Clausen December 9 -2016

Ingredients

• Pretzel sticks
• 1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate candy melts 
• Assorted color jelly belly beans
• 1/4 cup of black, blue, red, and yellow candy melts
• Black food writer
• Hershey's Kisses and Hershey's Bells chocolate candy
• 1 cup of green candy melts
• Star sprinkles
• White non-pareil sprinkles
• 12 of your favorite cupcakes with white icing

Instructions:

1. To make chairs.  Break or cut pretzel sticks into sizes (2 long and 9 smaller pieces) 
2. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and add to a freezer bag.  Snip and end and add some chocolate to pretzel stick and attach as in picture to "glue" chair together.  Let harden at least 15 minutes before moving. Repeat for as many chairs as you need.
3. For birds: Select jelly beans colors you like.  I like Jelly Belly as they are a little mottled which make great birds! Melt each color wafer in a microwave safe bowl and add to a small freezer bag.  Snip and end and add some details to birds (beak, wings, top feathers) as in pictures or use your creativity!  Let harden at least 5-10 minutes or until candy is dry. 
4. For trees: Melt green wafers in a microwave safe bowl and add to a small freezer bag.  Snip and attach Kiss to Bell to make tree shape.  Add more candy to outside of chocolate to make green trees.  Before candy dries, add either bird or star sprinkle on top (candy must be starting to harden to easily attach or you can hold it in place until candy is firm enough to hold it in place).  Before candy dries also add some white non-pareil sprinkles on outside of trees.
5. Once chairs are ready, use more melted candy and attach birds to chairs randomly.
6. Add trees, birds, and chairs to iced cupcakes as toppers.

Prep time: 60 mins Yield: 12 cupcakes

Other Jelly Belly Birds treats you may like!

Bird on a Wire Graham Crackers

Mini Birdhouse Treats

Jelly Bean Bird Pretzel Snacks

Halloween Sugar Wafer Houses

Candy Pots of Gold with Mini Gold Cookies

Hey all!  It's one of my favorite times of year when all the green and gold treats start showing up over the interwebs! 

Green has been a favorite color since I was little and I still fall for green stuff to this day.  And gold, well that's a no brainer because you don't expect treats to be gold - but there are plenty of them these days.  

So for this St. Patrick's Day I made some little pots of gold with gold treasure inside.  Everything is edible and would make a nice little addition to a Saint Patrick's day party (or just as a special treat for your little leprechauns)!

See the easy directions here over at sheknows!

Check out these other St. Patrick's Day Treats too!

Leprechaun Cupcakes

Rainbow Inside Cupcakes

Green Matcha Shortbread

Watermelon Peeps Squares

Lucky Charms Oatmeal Cookies

Naturally Colored Rainbow Cupcakes

Green Beer Bread

Rainbow Striped Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Men Cookies

Mini Candy and Marshmallow Cups

Rainbow Blondie Bars

Thanksgiving Pilgrim Turkey Marshmallow Peeps

Hey all, here's yet another turkey treat!  I seem to be a little obsessed with the fowl of the season.  This time I'm using marshmallow Peeps chicks that are out right now and all that left over candy corn you probably have laying around.  

Add some little pilgrim hats just because you can.  

See the easy directions here at sheknows!

Here are the other super simple Candy Turkeys (in case you missed them!)

Super Easy Candy Turkeys for Turkey Day

So it seems every year I try to make edible turkeys since Turkey season aka Thanksgiving is fast approaching.  Making a cute turkey is not so easy for many reasons.  1) They are really not that cute of a real animal 2) You usually need to use brown for the body which can look a bit like - well just think about the poo emoji  3) It's kinda hard to make something that everyone eats for the main course - cute.  

But alas I try anyway!  

This year I went for really really really simple.  You'll need a few candies.  It's a great way to use up all the candy corn you may have left over from Halloween (or go grab some on super sale now at all the stores!)

Peppermint patties make up the "body".  I had leftover heart shapes from Valentine's Day but you could also use regular mini peppermint patty candies.  Eyes are made from royal icing which after dried you add the black part with an edible candy writer.  My other favorite candy to use for projects is candy coated sunflower seeds.  They are used as the "beak" and a piece of red licorice as the gobbler thing.

Enjoy as is or use as cookie or cupcake toppers!

Welcome to November and Turkey season!  I'm already starting to see holiday and Christmas goodies over on Pinterest so I'm get ready for all the yummies on deck!

Here are some of my past turkey attempts! Which is your fav??

Pilgrim and Turkey Cupcake Toppers

Candy Melt Candy Turkeys

No Bake Mini Cookie Pops

Marshmallow & Candy Turkeys

Malt Ball & Candy Turkey Toppers

How To Make Candy Turkeys 

Ingredients:

• Candy corn - in various colors and flavors
• Heart shaped mini peppermint patties (if you can't find hearts you can use round mini peppermint patties)
• Yellow candy coated sunflower seeds
• Red licorice strings
• Candy eyes (made with royal icing or you can buy pre-made candy eyes)
• Chocolate chips or candy melt (as glue)

Directions:

1. Add 1/2 cup of chips/wafers to a quart size freezer bag and microwave on high for 15 second intervals until just melted (usually 3-4 intervals)
2. Snip an end of the bag and "pipe" the chocolate glue onto the small ends of 5 candy corns.  Arrange in a fan shape.  Attach the back of the chocolate patty to the candy corn as in photo.
3. Use melted chocolate and attach eyes, sunflower seed as beak.
4. Cut 1/2 inch of licorice and attach with melted chocolate as the gobbler.